Following up on last week’s article on the head basketball coach for Sinclair, Jeff Price, I dove into how Price tries to develop his athletes into not only good basketball players, but good role-model citizens as well. As the athletic director, he also oversees all Sinclair sports.
In fact, Price was named OCCAC Athletic Director of the Year for 2014–2015 in only his second year. According to Sinclair’s Athletics website, Price has made tremendous contributions in the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Committee by working with Scott Nichols to move the OCCAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Final Four to the Ohio Christian University.
Also, both Sinclair basketball teams reached the NJCAA District Final Four. Both the baseball and softball team ended on strong notes as well by reaching the District Championship games, only to miss the College World Series by one game.
On the academic side, Sinclair has done very well by having 17 student-athletes earn OCCAC All-Academic Honors. 20 percent of Sinclair’s student-athletes earned Academic All-Conference Awards with a 3.3 GPA or higher according to Sinclair’s Athletics website. So how has Price been able to have all this success while being an incredibly busy man?
“Well, I started coaching at a private liberal arts college in West Virginia where in 1990, 30,000 dollars was needed to get in and [you] had to have a 24 on your ACT. So that was engrained for me right off the bat,” says Price.
“There are a lot of coaches and a lot of programs out there that work on preparing kids for the transition. When you get to the college and you talk about transition with your kids, you have to say, ‘You only have four years left to play.’ We need to start talking and thinking about when the air goes out of the basketball,” says Price.
Price goes on to explain that, obviously, it isn’t something that kids want to hear, but it is a part of the job. He also goes on to explain that he helps build his kids into good citizens. On August 24, every student-athlete at Sinclair will be registered to vote. Price brought in Montgomery County Board of Elections at four o’clock to make sure they were registered. Price also went into detail about how competitive he is, and how most coaches are in general.
“We all have that internal-mechanism that says we don’t like to lose. I can say I don’t care how much stuff you put on my desk, I bet you I can get it moved off. It is just one of those games where I can’t move things along. This is how I view things in the athletic department,” says Price.
He continues on to emphasize communication where he claims communication is one of those skills that you can never stop trying to improve upon.
Going into his third year as the Athletic Director, Price hopes to continue his success in preparing kids for the real world, as well as striving to make himself, the program and the school better.
Matthew Summers
Sports Editor